BiProMicro

The basis of the BiProMicro project idea is a specially developed cultivation chip that allows microfluidic single-cell cultivation. Individual cells can be observed and analysed on this chip under controlled, changing conditions. This approach makes it possible to make statements about the productivity and robustness of new cell lines without having to go through the usual multi-stage scaling processes. This technological leap not only allows considerable savings in time and material, but also opens up the possibility of analysing significantly more strains for their industrial suitability than before. Single cell analysis enables the internal heterogeneity of a strain to be assessed, which is of great importance for the reproducibility of a bioprocess.

The idea originated from the "Multiscale Bioengineering" working group at the Faculty of Technology at Bielefeld University, which has been conducting intensive research into the application of microfluidic systems in bioprocess engineering since 2017. Four coordinated development areas are being pursued as part of the project. Firstly, the selection of the best production strain is formalised using standardised protocols. In a second step, the predictive power of the chip will be validated in cooperation with industrial partners by comparing the results from the miniaturised scale with data from real bioprocess developments on a production scale. At the same time, the existing chips are being further developed so that complex cultivation conditions with several influencing parameters can also be modelled in the future. The fourth area is the evaluation of a spin-off of the company BiProMicro.

The social relevance of the project results from the increasing importance of biotechnological processes in a sustainable economy. BiProMicro contributes to making production processes safer, faster and more resource-efficient, thus actively supporting the transition to a bio-based economy. In addition, the technology developed has a high transfer potential to other areas of application, such as biomedical research or environmental biotechnology. Investigations into cell behaviour under varying conditions, such as those found in the human body or in environmental samples, will be possible for the first time in this form with this technology.